DadRinTX - more good points. Just to clarify, the quoted material was from my post that was further commenting on CPLZ's post.
Regardless, I would like to clarify some more points about roster sizes. I think some people get caught up in the raw numbers some times. Just because some school brings in lots of players to compete at a given position does not necessarily affect playing time unless one of them happens to turn out better than the player who is trying to determine a fit. On the other hand, if a player finds himself behind one all-american type player, that could be devastating for years to come with respect to playing time as I noted above with respect to the OSU football player.
Clearly, it is important to see how many kids are being brought in but it also is important to analyze who is there presently and/or who might be coming in to replace them. Not all this information will be clear especially before early signing. However, if someone is dilligent and performs google searches on a regular basis, you might be able to catch someone else's verbal announcement before making a committment yourself.
There are no risk-free decisions however. Like TR said above, at the end of the day a player has to have confidence in their ability to compete and overcome things.